Mother Carey's chicken
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of Mother Carey's chicken
First recorded in 1760–70; origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Spaniard was hardly a mile to windward, a long, low, rakish craft, as black as a Mother Carey’s chicken.
From The Cruise of the Snowbird A Story of Arctic Adventure by Stables, Gordon
It is known to every English sailor by the name of Mother Carey's chicken.
From Wanderings in South America by Waterton, Charles
I can repeat something, in the fairy-tale style, which was told me by Mother Carey's chicken, when we were waiting for the nestling to grow strong enough for us to make our journey.
From The Cricket's Friends Tales Told by the Cricket, Teapot, and Saucepan by Johnson, Virginia W.
I haven’t got the heart of a Mother Carey’s chicken.
From The Buffalo Runners A Tale of the Red River Plains by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)
It was significant, this nightcap of Admiral Buzza—as the ram's horn to Jericho, the Mother Carey's chicken to the doomed ship.
From The Astonishing History of Troy Town by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
